Aftermath
by HotaruGFC
Summary: Cannon Divergence post-elf arc. Sequel to Crisis. The King of the Clover Kingdom has his own ideas of what happened and seeks to rectify things, much to the chagrin of those who've survived.
1. Chapter 1

The kingdom was in shambles. Everything, everyone, and everywhere had been touched by recent events. Trauma lived on the faces of all. And in this trauma, Yami Sukehiro was appointed as the new Wizard King. Documents from Julius himself, a sort of last will and testament, had named him as the successor, and Yami hated every minute of it. He didn't blame Julius, however. His mentor knew he would do the best he could if only to prove everyone who thought he couldn't do it wrong.

But Yami suspected Julius had also assumed Yami would be as unfettered and unattached as he had been. And when Julius' nomination had come to light, Yami's reputation as a loner, a foreigner with no family who had given everything to the kingdom had convinced the people of the wisdom of his appointment. He had no other commitments, no other ties but to the kingdom.

Or so everyone thought.

Yami may have been as a free-roaming spirit when he arrived in the clover kingdom so many years ago, but Julius had given him a place, a purpose, and the start of a family. Since then, his family had grown from the misfits, vagabonds, and outcasts he had gathered around him. And now, his family was going to grow so more.

If he had any say in the matter...

Yami gritted his teeth as he listened to the King prattle on about the traitors who had destroyed his palace, as if the palace was the end all, be all of the kingdom as if it were the center of the universe. He bit his lip as the king made a mockery of the laws governing how such traitors were to be dealt with.

"We really should just be able to execute them all." The King chuckled as he gestured through the air with one hand. "Most of them were lower nobility and some peasants. They don't really need a trial, do they?"

Yami squeezed his hand around the hilt of his sword tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. Marx reminded the King of the statement in the constitution regarding a fair trial for all.

"Besides, Your Grace, if you begin executing people haphazardly, you will have a difficult time maintaining the respect of the people," Marx said in an effort to mollify the petty ruler as he had seen Julius do so many times before.

A difficult time is putting it mildly, Yami thought. If you think you have a problem with traitors now, you would have a problem ten-fold in scale if you indiscriminately kill citizens.

Nothing had been decided-again-as he walked out of the audience chamber feeling as if the weight of the entire world rested upon him. The weight of the office constrained him, making it hard to breathe on a daily basis, but on some days he felt as if it was going to kill him.

He sighed as he tried to figure out what to say to the others regarding the lack of indecision on the matter, but his anger at the self-centered nature of the King kept bubbling up to the surface.

Yami walked into the meeting with the few remaining captains of the Magic Knight squads. He looked at his comrades, at the men who, upon hearing Julius' recommendation and request in his Last Will and Testament, had decided to go along with the insanity and place the mantle of authority upon him.

Traitors, every last one of them.

Though traitors only to him, he knew, not to the kingdom they all served and protected. Not traitors to the people who were all hurting so much.

He slammed his fists down on the table as he looked at them. Three pairs of eyes looked back at him but none recoiled from the action. They had all been at this point before.

"I can't fucking work with that man." Yami's voice held a dangerous edge, as sharp as his darkness covered blade.

"The King is the King," Fuegoleon retorted. "There's nothing to be done about it."

"Is there?" Yami looked at the hard-nosed, redhead before sighing and collapsing into the chair at the head of the table. "You know what he wants to do, right?"

"I don't think we can do anything to stop him. He has the authority." Nozel looked from Fuegoleon to Yami and back. Jack chuckled at the far end of the table.

"Of course he wants to see justice served. That possession spell certainly worked a number on the entire kingdom. A lot of people are angry; a lot of people are dead. But leave it to the king to focus on something as petty as his palace." Jack's words only served to stir the ire in Yami once more.

"The Blue Rose Knights and the Golden Dawn are all but wiped out. And all of the remaining squads have been fractured, and have had members arrested. Distrust is running rampant. The people don't know if a Magic Knight will turn on them again or not. They don't know who to trust. We have to tread carefully, as the king isn't the only one looking for justice." Fuegoleon added, but Yami could hear the fire in his voice. Reports said he had been forced to kill his own Vice-Captain to save his brother when everything went to shit.

"To complicate things, only some of those possessed even remember what happened. Many don't even know what they did. But the effect of their actions will reverberate for a long time and might take years to undo. Generations, perhaps." Nozel's voice was as calm as ever.

"It's fine for you," Yami shot back, his voice filled with anger he couldn't focus, or rather, he shouldn't point at the object of it. "You royals didn't have to worry about being affected. You didn't have to see loved ones turn into something they weren't." Nozel and Fuegoleon exchanged looks.

"No, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but we all had to watch friends and family die, Yami. We all have had to face that." Jack said from across the table, defending the royals from Yami's unfocused rage.

"He wants to execute them all," Yami said quietly.

"We know." Nozel's normally calm and cold voice was equally as soft and filled with compassion.

"Is that justice? With very few exceptions, none of them had any control over what they did while they were under the spell's effects." The argument was the same as it had been every day for the last week. Yami stood and paced the room, hoping the movement would help to ease some of the energy he had bubbling inside him. Over the last few days, he had seen so many who suffered waiting for the king's justice, waiting to know exactly what they had done wrong and what was going to happen to them. The adults were bad enough, sitting in solitude in dank cells. Men and women, knights, nobles, and peasants all stood accused. He had watched as Finral and his brother reconciled through the bars which separated, as Luck and Magna final admitted to each other just what they meant to the other, and as Gauche raged at being separated from his sister, for whom he was filled with worry. He had held Charlotte as she tried to cry, and couldn't when what she had done finally struck her.

All four of them had all see the same thing, had watched the same or similar events play out since the arrests were made.

But the children... seeing the children broke Yami's heart. There were only a few, including Gauche's little sister, but all of them were confused and scared. They all asked him when they would be able to see their families again and Yami had no answer to give them.

"Someone must be held accountable," Fuegoleon said solemnly. A hush fell over the room as the four men remembered those who had entered the darkness, never to return.

"And someone already has been," Yami added after consideration. "Only that, that..."

"Idiot?" Nozel supplied, shooting a warning look at the hot-headed wizard king.

"That idiot," Yami slurred the word, elongating it as if the stress of the sound could make it have more impact, or transform it into the one word he wanted to say. He paced the room near the head of the table. "That idiot doesn't see it that way." He slammed his fist against the table again. The heavy wooden piece shuddered under the force. Yami continued his pacing. He ticked off those who had fallen in his mind: Rill, Dorthy, William. And there were so many others he did not know, so many who had not had the benefit of Asta and his anti-magic sword, so many who had fallen at the hands of Magic Knights desperate to survive or the darkness which had erupted and in the end only stopped by the sacrifice of the rest of the elven spirits. The details were still sketchy as to exactly what happened. The only two who had come out of the fight had been Asta and Yuno, and neither of them had given satisfactory reports on the matter.

But the events were still raw for everyone and processing it all will take time. Yami rubbed his hand over his face and growled in frustration. The level of agitation he felt had been wearing on him since he was forced into the job. He wanted to go home, to take a nap, to have a good shit, but everything was so screwed up right now, he wasn't able to even find solace in his "golden time". He walked over to the wall and punched it hard. His fist went through the wooden surface and he tore a small section of it out as he pulled back.

"This is about Charlotte, isn't it." Nozel's voice was gentle but firm. Yami froze and glared at Nozel with narrowed eyes. He should have expected the sneaky bastard had figured something out. Of course, he expected everyone to know now. Not like he hid it from anyone anymore. Not with his daily trips to see her. Half the time he wasn't allowed into her cell and they were forced to talk through the barred door where he could only see her eyes and couldn't even touch her hand. He needed her to be with him, to hold him, to soothe his anger. She had a much cooler head than he did. But the look in her eyes had grown more and more haunted. She did not want to talk about why, but on a couple of times he had been allowed into the cell with her, she had collapsed into his arms and wept, keening in a way he never wanted to hear her grieve again. As much as he needed her to comfort and soothe him, he held her tightly and stroked her hair, whispering nonsense to her, hoping everything he said would be true.

It had to be true.

Yami, in his frustration, lunged at the silver-haired royal when Jack's blade shimmered into existence and cut through the air between them.

"I can't believe I am going to be the voice of reason here... But, Nozel is right, isn't he? This is about more than you're letting on." He looked at Yami. "We've all lost friends, family in this catastrophe, either in the initial attack or now to the roundup of those affected. We've all lost squad members too. Now is not the time for division. Now, more than ever, we need each other. Like it or not, it's only us four until all of this gets sorted."

Fuegoleon nodded in agreement.

"Five. My sister is still on board to help."

"Five then. And I know it doesn't help much, but despite our differences, we all want what is best for the kingdom and its people."

Yami took a deep breath and collapsed into the seat at the head of the table once more. He nodded.

"We will find a way to save her, to save them all," Nozel vowed, his voice confident. "They are all citizens of the Kingdom too."

But Yami still could not think of a way through the gridlock.

A couple of days later, Yami stood in a courtroom along with the other captains and vice-captains still serving at the liberty of the King. While the Royal Knights had been disbanded, Mereoleona stood with them. She shifted uncomfortably in the line next to him.

"You hate this as much as I do." He whispered to her. She smirked and chuckled mirthlessly.

"It's a waste of time, a waste of energy. There are bigger fish to fry."

The King ascended to the high seat reserved for the judge presiding over the events.

"I will be making all rulings in the matter of treason for the accused, as is my right by virtue of my sublime royal mana." The King said. His voice was a mix between a whimper and a whine as he looked down on everyone from his place on high.

Yami felt his lips press into a tight line and his hands ball into fists despite telling himself to stay calm. He could feel the shift in the ki of the other captains as well, at the proclamation. They had all assumed the King would consider the proceedings too mundane and beneath him to get involved directly.

"Well, I guess what they say about assumptions is true..." Jack murmured on Yami's other side.

Yami forced himself to release a slow angry breath and relax his fists.

"Bring in the prisoners." The King's waspish voice echoed through the room with magical amplification. Guards parted the doors on the other side of the large room and a stream of people filed in. Each had manacles binding their wrists and a scared look in their eyes. Yami noted they were all missing their grimoires and any indication of individuality had been stripped from them. They were all dressed in rough-spun clothing, with not an indication of rank among them. All signs of belonging to anything except the group of traitors, the group who turned, was evident. No robes to indicate squad membership, no insignia of any of the noble houses. Just a mass of unwashed, unkempt brown and beige dotted with various colors of hair.

Charlotte shone like a light, drawing his attention, despite the stringiness of her pale blonde hair which hung loosely over her shoulders. In any other situation, he would have been running his fingers through her hair and kissing the skin exposed by the loose-fitting tunic. She glanced up at him, her face shrunken and sallow. She had lost weight, and even he knew the situation was not healthy for the child her body was trying to support. But more than that, her eyes seemed hollow, distant, haunted. They had lost the hopefulness he had seen in them a mere day ago.

Quickly her attention turned from him to another as one of the royal guards pushed her further into the chambers. Yami tensed, readying himself to attack anyone who hurt her. He knew she was strong enough to take care of herself, but his concern was for more than just her. No guard knew of her pregnancy. She had not broadcast it to many, and she had asked him to keep it quiet as well. He had agreed reluctantly, on the condition he could tell others about their blossoming relationship.

As he watched, Owen jumped to her aid. He guided her gently further into the crowd, his hand lightly on her back and his eyes fixed on the guard who had been so rough with her. Mereoleona's hand on his arm forced Yami to stillness. He released a long shaky, angry breath. Had he been a fire mage, he was certain flames would have puffed out of his nostrils.

"Attacking now would only make matters worse."

Yami grunted. He knew she was right. He had to keep a clear head, a calm head like Julius had taught him. Doing so had always been a struggle but now he felt the urge to act anytime he saw Charlotte get hurt.

Another bit of defiant commotion on the other side of the mass of people caught the attention of the gathered captains.

The young children who had been ensnared in all of this mess had entered the room and Gauche, having seen his sister Marie, tried to cut through the crowd toward her. A guard shoved him back into the group and from the look Yami saw on the young man's face, the guard would have been dead had the room not been cloaked in a magic suppression field.

Once the flow of people stopped and all those who stood accused were crammed into the chamber, the King stood to address the mass.

"You all are accused of acts of treason against the Crown and the Kingdom. You have all met with an investigator who has worked to determine your history, your connection to the terrorist group, and your cognizance of your actions while under their influence."

"Nice job, referring to an entire species who were wiped out as a 'terrorist group.'" Jack muttered. Each of the captains knew the story was far more complex than the king made it out to be, and that it was more nuanced than he was willing to accept.

"As such," the king droned on. Yami bit his lip to keep from speaking out and in hopes that the pain would dull the pain of the assault on his ears. "I have come to a conclusion regarding at least some of your fates. Based on the advice from the investigators and the Captains of the Magic Knight Squads, all those who have not yet received their grimoire will be pardoned of any crime, but all of them will spend the next year in Church custody for reeducation and evaluation of them for any lingering effects."

The captains let out a collective sigh of relief. The fight with the king over the guilt of the possessed children had been hard fought. He had been dead set on trying everyone as a criminal, regardless of what their actual role had been in the attack. And since Yami had not had the best track record of dealing with the king, Fuegoleon eventually stepped in and helped to move him toward compassion.

"After the year sentence, each will be reevaluated and based on that evaluation may be returned to their families."

Yami could feel a ripple of shock move through the collective ki of the room. With so many people, he could not discern a source. He felt Fuegeleon stiffen in frustration.

The adults were separated once again, divided along the lines set by the investigators. None in the new group who moved to the front of the mass of people were magic knights, and most of them were peasants or commoners. The group was a small knot of people among the mass of more powerful mages.

"Hopefully he pardons the commoners. They will be needed for the harvest soon." Nozel said as he watched the group huddle together in fear.

"Or what's left of it," Jack added. As Yami had made his primary concern the people imprisoned, Jack had spent his time evaluating the physical damage caused to the land, towns, and homes by the fighting. His reports were unsettling and bleak.

"Whatever is left, we need to have properly stored and quickly brought in. Too many people will go hungry this winter if not." Yami noted, wondering if the king actually cared about those pesky details.

"The investigators found you were not aware of nor in control of your actions during the attack. Nor did you have a hand in the assault on the capital."

"No one else had control of their actions either," Yami muttered under his breath.

"In addition, because you all are laborers, you will be sent to a work camp where you will undergo reeducation as you work throughout the coming harvest. Depending on your behavior you may be released to return to your families before the planting season begins." The king waved his hand and guards shuffled the group out of the room. Another group of guards wove a path through the remaining mass of people, isolating certain individuals and grouping them together before the bench where the king sat.

Yami watched the group who had just been dismissed as they were pushed through the doors. The faces were a flurry of emotions, but none seemed happy about the decision. Some seemed absolutely terrified, and at least one or two struggled against the guards to see one of their loved ones or a friend to say goodbye.

"I'll be right back," Yami said to no one in particular as he slipped out from where he and the captains were viewing the proceedings. The hallway ran around the side of the main room and was far emptier than he had expected.

"I guess everyone crowded in to watch." He sighed as he hurried along the hallway to where the prisoners were being loaded onto a wagon to be taken away where they would serve their sentence. People were crying, shouting, sobbing, trying to get one final plea in though no one who could do anything about it could hear. Even if they could, Yami doubted they would do anything about it. A man spotted his approach as the guards pushed him onto the wagon.

"Wizard King!" His eyes were hopeful as he met Yami's.

Yami had to repress a shudder at the title. The only Wizard King in his mind was Julius.

"Wizard King, please. Help us."

Shouts and please asking him for help grew deafening, even drowning out his revulsion at the title with which they addressed him. Yami tried to look at them with something like compassion or sympathy, but he knew they had gotten off far easier than the king's original plan. Was it fair? Of course not. But was it fairer than the executioner's block? By far.

"I will do what I can." He told the prisoners. "I will see if I can get the king to change his mind on the sentence. And in the meantime, I will work to ensure you are treated fairly."

Yami turned away, feeling sick to his stomach at his inability to do anything more to help them. He couldn't explain it to others who didn't already see it, but he knew these people were being punished for nothing. He walked through the corridor which encircled the main room and nearly tripped. He turned, his hands reaching for his sword, prepared to remove whatever it was which had tripped him.

Only to see Asta sitting on the floor. His knees were tucked into his chest and he stared out into nothingness.

"Kid, what are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay home and rest?" Yami relaxed his stance ever so slightly. The edge he had been walking still threatened him, but when Asta looked up at him in confusion, he felt himself slip.

"Why is the king doing this? Those people did nothing to hurt anyone. Not even when they were possessed."

Yami wanted to answer his question, but nothing which came to mind felt sufficient. Neither did he wish to ignore the question, as it was one he had replayed in his mind since the start of the proceedings.

"You didn't answer my questions." Yami decided to sidestep. His voice must have been more intimidating than he had planned as Asta scrambled to his feet.

"Finral said I could come. Noelle is here too. He... he thought we might be useful as witnesses since she's a royal and all and since my sword could... undo the possession."

Yami crossed his arms over his chest. He had asked, or more like ordered, Finral to keep the rest of the Bulls away from the proceedings. The entire fiasco was enough of a circus without them coming in and disrupting things. Actually, Nozel had convinced him to keep them away for those reasons. Yami had agreed because he wasn't exactly sure he could keep the squad from killing people should the sentencing of Luck and Gauche not go the way they wanted. He wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't let loose himself should members of his family be put to death, but he was confident on the ability of the other captains-he still thought of them as his equals or betters, no matter what title Julius had bestowed upon him-to restrain him. He wasn't sure if they could restrain him and the rest of the family.

When he had commanded Finral to keep them away, the protection of the squad was at the forefront of his mind. But Finral had protested, complained how none of them would listen to him, even if he were their senior and now the de facto captain, a title he wanted just as much as Yami wanted to be Wizard King.

Yami sighed and made a mental note to talk to someone about abdication as soon as this farce of a trial was over. He couldn't do this, no matter what Julius thought.

He had half a mind to order Asta to leave, to go back to the base. The kid had worked himself to exhaustion once again and needed the rest to get back to peak condition. But he also knew the kid was stubborn to a fault; it was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. He didn't know when to let go, and he didn't know when to care for himself.

Yami lit a cigarette. The king had ordered him to not smoke in his presence and with everything going on, he could use a little bit of relaxation.

"Did you mean what you told them?" Asta looked up at him hopefully. Yami wondered how much he saw of himself in those people who had been carted away to their new lives of servitude. But for a stroke of luck in his birth, he was not one who turned. "Did you really mean to help them however you could?"

"Yeah. I meant it." Yami took a long drag on his cigarette before dropping it, half used, to the ground and snuffing it out with the toe of his boot. He had lingered too long already and his absence from the proceedings was sure to be missed by now. "Come on. We should get back."

"I don't know if I can watch. Luck, Gauche." Asta took a deep breath. "Yuno. They don't deserve this."

"No, they don't." Yami started walking down the hallway, expecting Asta to follow him. Hearing the sounds of footsteps behind him, Yami continued. "Too often things happen that people don't deserve. And those who do, well, they rarely get what they deserve. But, what they all need right now is our support. Even knowing that you are there with them, watching, can give them strength."

When they reached the door to the chamber where most of the audience had been ushered, Yami watched as Asta took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Yami could practically read what the young man was thinking in the way he carried himself through the door. The trial was like a battle. They would need all of their strength to fight through to the end, and they would all come out with scars. Some might not make it through to the other side of the fight.

The doors slammed shut and Yami steeled himself as he walked to the next entry where he and the captains had been placed.

The mass of people had thinned considerably by the time Yami had taken his seat. A single mage stood before the dais now facing the king. Yami did not need to sense the man's ki to see he was scared. The man looked familiar and despite his fear, carried himself as a Magic Knight.

"The King has decided to address each of the accused Magic Knights personally," Fuegoleon whispered to him as Yami took his seat.

"Are they given a chance for defense?"

"They can make a few statements, but not enough that I would really call it a defense. More like they can state their case and try to sway the king."

"How many have I missed?"

"A couple, no more. One from Silver Eagles and one from Coral Peacocks."

"And this one is mine," Jack added as he looked on with more interest than Yami had thought possible. Regardless of how they might act to each other or how they might seem on the outside, Yami guessed all the captains cared for their squad members. In a way, they were all like families.

"What did he do?" Yami asked, leaning back behind Mereoleona's head so he could talk more directly to Jack. The string bean of a face lacked its characteristic mad grin as Jack shook his head. Either he didn't know or he didn't want to say.

"I haven't had much of a chance to talk with them all." Jack turned his attention back to the proceedings where the king was issuing the man's sentence: stripping of his rank and titles, imprisonment for three years followed by conscription into the army.

"Conscription?" Yami couldn't keep the surprise from his voice.

"So far, the sentences have been the same. Stripping of ranks, imprisonment for a variable length of time with conscription to follow." Mereoleona said.

"But why conscription? Why the army? He was a Magic Knight. "

The fiery lioness looked at him with concern in her face. But before he could get an answer, movement on the floor caught his eye. Luck was being ushered forward. Yami rubbed his hand over his face and glanced over into the crowd gathered to watch the proceedings. He could barely see Asta in the crowd, but Noelle's silver hair shone like a beacon. Her face was hard and emotionless, but her posture was tense and ready for a fight.

"Luck Voltia, Magic Knight and Member of the, uh, Black Bulls squad." The king did not bother hiding his distaste. "You stand here accused of harboring a traitorous spirit and afflicting harm upon the kingdom. How do you plead?"

The amused look never wavered from Luck's face. The young man tilted his head as he considered his answer.

"Not guilty, Your Grace." He said with confidence. "True, I was possessed by an elven spirit, but my possession was ended quickly through Asta's anti-magic sword. So I did not harm the kingdom. In fact, upon recovery, I did everything I could to protect the people of the kingdom, as any Magic Knight should."

The king glared at him, but Luck continued to smile. As Yami watched, he noted the crazed look in Luck's eye, as if he were fighting the strongest of opponents.

"That's right, Luck. Just keep fighting." Yami murmured under his breath. The fight was different from what Luck was used to, but it was a fight nonetheless.

"Be that as it may, you still suffered possession and as such were complicit in the attack on the Capital." The king was not moved. "As you are a commoner with no rank to speak of, you will be stripped of your position in the Magic Knights and will undergo reeducation. After a year, you will be interviewed regarding your ability to reenter society and will enter service in the military. Next." The king handed out the sentence quickly and dismissed Luck from his presence. A guard took Luck's arm and led him out of the room.

"Conscription again," Fuegoleon said, and Yami could hear a distinct concern in his voice.

"And 'reeducation', whatever that is," Jack added.

"I don't like this." Yami crossed his arms over his chest. "He's up to something."

The king stood and the seated crowd stood with him.

Yami looked from the king to those still waiting to be sentenced. While the herd of people had thinned considerably, many more people still waited for their fate. The king, apparently though, had other ideas as he descended from the dais and left the room. Even the steward who was managing the proceedings seemed confused by the king's actions.

"Uh..." The steward stepped forward. "We will continue proceedings later?" He announced as he glanced back at the retreating king. The guards began rounding up the remaining prisoners. Yami made a mental note of who was left: Gauche, Kaiser, Owen, and Charlotte, among others."

"I'm surprised he didn't actually go through with execution orders," Nozel said as the remaining accused were ushered out. "I guess we had some effect."

"Yeah." Yami agreed though he was only half paying attention. His eyes and his mind was on Charlotte. "Excuse me." He pushed his way out of the small area into which they had all been seated and made his way to the floor.

"I need to speak to her," Yami told the guard who had his hand on Charlotte's arm and was leading her out of the chamber.

"I'm sorry, Sir. King's orders. No one is to speak to the prisoners. Period."

"I am the Wizard King and I will speak to her." Yami could not release his mana aura because of the suppression field still in effect, but his voice alone made the guard flinch.

"King's orders, Sir. I'm sorry, but they supersede yours."

Yami squeezed his hands into fists and would have punched the guard had Charlotte not looked back at him. Her blue eyes pleaded with him to cool his anger.

And then she was gone, lost in the crowd.

And Yami stared at the spot where she had been for a long moment. His hands would not relax from the fists into which they had balled, despite her silent plea. By the time he looked around, the chamber was empty.


	2. Chapter 2

Yami laid in the plush bed in the Wizard King's apartments wondering how something so thick and fluffy could feel so cold and barren. Two days had passed since the first day of trial. Two days for those released to the Church or to more permanent confinement to grow accustomed to their new lives. Two days since he had said good-bye to Luck, assuring the young man to the best of his ability he would do everything he could bring him home. Two days since he had seen Magna's spirit break. Two days since he had seen Charlotte, albeit from a distance. Two days since he had promised himself he would find a better way.

And in two days he had thought of nothing.

"I'm not smart enough for this fucking job, Julius." He sat up and lit a cigarette. He let the familiar burn sooth him. The King had called for the next round of trials to begin that afternoon. Now that the majority of those affected had been sentenced and sent away, the trials were bound to grow more difficult. He could not imagine the King would have brought up executions had he not been prepared to act on the threat.

But he had issued no such sentence.

Yet.

Yami finished the cigarette and lit another before he stood and stretched. He looked through the clothes which had been brought for him-clothes Marx had insisted were suitable for the job but which only confined him further. He grumbled as he found nothing which suited him and settled on a pair of dark pants and the least ornate tunic he could find. The sleeves were tight through the shoulders and as he looked in a mirror and ran his fingers through his hair, the seam connecting the sleeve to the rest of the shirt ripped.

"Ah hell." He pulled the rip until the sleeve fell away. Marx would be angry, but he didn't much care. He pulled at the other sleeve until it too came free. The sleeves fell to the floor next to him as Yami looked at himself in the mirror.

His eyes were ringed with dark splotches and they were bloodshot as if he had taken to drinking too much. He felt old and looked older.

"I need to sleep more."

But he knew it was a fruitless statement, even if it were the truth. Since the elven spirits had departed, he had found sleep nearly impossible. Every night was filled with worry-for his squad, for Charlotte, for his friends who had been imprisoned, and for the kingdom which now wept from the divisions.

A bell tower chimed like a deep gong echoing through the air. The trials would resume in a few hours, but Yami had a few things to do first. Despite how much he wanted it, a nap was not one of them. He needed to see Charlotte and to do that, he needed permission from the King.

Yami took a deep breath and steeled himself as he left his chambers and headed to the palace.

He waited an hour before the King would see him, and Yami knew he was making him wait on purpose. He muttered to himself, low and under his breath should anyone pass by overhear him. If what he said and what he thought was to make it to the King's ears, he too might be called out for treason.

As Yami paced the antechamber, mumbling something about how he was certain Julius had never waited to see the King like this, a man about his age, maybe a little older pulled open the door and called to him.

"His Illustrious Highness will see you know." The man's voice reedy but deep, like a bassoon. Yami stopped in his pacing and looked the man over. He was tall with an angular face framed in short-cropped dark hair. Thin lips curled up in a smile, but one more patronizing than welcoming. Yami held his gaze a moment, sizing up the man. Dark, intense eyes stared back at him, refusing to give in to intimidation. He held an air of righteousness, of divine self-importance, but did not seem to suffer from the King's petty faults. Yami had seen the man only a few times before, but never up close. The man had always been by the King's side in the shadows, whispering in his ear.

But now, after being able to see him clearly, Yami decided he did not like the young man one bit. He straightened himself to his full height, cutting an imposing figure as he passed the man, and strode into the throne room.

The King was attended by two nubile young women who barely seemed old enough to be called women. One held a tray of food from which the King nibbled, while the other held his goblet and a pitcher with which to fill it. Both women looked out at the world with blank faces.

"If it isn't the Foreigner. What brings you to our court before the trial today? What is so urgent it could not wait until we were forced to be in your presence?" The King plucked a grape from the tray and tossed it into his mouth.

"It has to do with the trial," Yami said. The King narrowed his eyes at him. "Your Grace," Yami added through gritted teeth. "I need to speak with one of the prisoners."

"Impossible. Only our inquisitors are allowed to speak to them." The King ate another grape. "Perhaps you can have one of them relay your message."

Yami ground his teeth together until his jaw tightened. He felt it pop as he opened his mouth to speak again.

"What I need to say is... personal. Sensitive. Something I cannot trust to anyone else."

A shadow moved behind the King and he leaned toward the hovering darkness, listening to whispers Yami could not hear.

"If you think it would be alright." The King's voice sounded skeptical as he glanced over at Yami.

"Very well, we will allow you the audience you request. Who is it you wished to see?"

Yami stared at him in shock for a moment as his brain caught up to his ears.

"Charlotte Roselei."

A look of worry crossed the King's face at the name and he leaned toward the shadow once more, listening to the voice hiding in the darkness behind him.

"I know I can't take it back now." He hissed just above a whisper, unaware his voice echoed from where he sat on the dais. "Of course. It is the least we can do for our Wizard King."

Yami did not miss the look of disgust which crossed his face as the King used the title Yami had been bequeathed. Honestly, Yami thought the feeling was mutual.

"Thank you." He turned on the spot and hurried across the throne room floor. The prison cells were in a separate part of the palace complex and deep underground. Yami rushed to the heavily guarded dungeon, ignoring everyone along the way as if he were a horse with blinders.

The guard did not believe him at first, but after a few minutes of arguing and a few threats tossed around, a messenger came from the palace with the King's orders. The guard quickly stood aside.

"Listen, I never wanted to turn you away in the first place, Wizard King, it's just..." The guard looked around and then shut his mouth and straightened to attention as if the King himself were suddenly present. "But orders have changed and you may enter the dungeon now." The guard stepped aside and allowed Yami to pass into the dark stairwell behind him.

Yami watched the guard's hand fidget nervously though the rest of him was perfectly still. As he disappeared down the stairs, Yami wondered what could make the guard so uneasy, what could make his ki so scared. He tried piecing things together as he walked down the cold dank corridor toward Charlotte's cell, but too man bits of information eluded him. He put the puzzle in the back of his mind-a problem for a later him to figure out-when he reached the heavy door and heard soft crying.

The crying was not like the wails of children separated from their families, nor the angry shouts of men and women fighting for their lost freedom. The sound was soft, quiet sobbing, lonely, grief-filled tears.

"Charlotte?" He looked through the small barred window in the door into the darkened room. Her blond head lifted, looking silvery in the phosphorescent light from a single glowstone mounted in the corner. The sickly light did nothing to hide the redness of her eyes as she turned to him.

"Yami." Her voice was too soft to be heard, but he could read his name on her cracked lips.

"Sir, you aren't supposed to be here." A guard rushed to the cell to argue. Yami held up the decree brought by the King's messenger. He did not turn his head, or take his eyes off of his lover for a moment. The guard took the paper from his hand and looked over it.

"Open the door," Yami ordered.

"Uh, Sir. This says you are allowed to speak with her, but it says nothing about..." The guard squeaked as Yami's hands wrapped around his throat.

"Open. The. Door."

The guard gasped as he fumbled with the keys at his waist. He held up a key on a heavy ring of similar keys and shook it a few times before Yami released him. Gasping for air and rubbing his neck with his free hand, the guard inserted the key into the lock and turned it. Yami pushed past him into the small room. Charlotte collapsed against him. He wrapped his arms around her, supporting her weight as she buried her face in his chest. He stroked her hair which was stringy, matted, and in desperate need of a good washing.

But despite it all, he held onto her like a lifeline. She sobbed wordlessly into him and he felt the dam he had built against everything he had experienced recently crack and splinter under the pressure of the emotions he had buried. He squeezed her more tightly.

He missed her.

He needed her.

He wanted her.

He hated to see her like this.

After a long while, her sobbing slowed to shallow breaths. Yami silently stroked her hair and rubbed her back. He did his best to memorized the feel of her in his arms. Eventually, she spoke.

"I remember it all."

Yami could barely hear her voice. He lifted his cheek from her head and moved back slightly to see her tear-streaked cheeks.

"The worst though are the screams."Her voice was distant and numb. "I never thought I would ever hear my friends scream like that. Never thought I would..." Her voice broke in a sob. "That I would be the cause of them."

"You weren't the cause, Charlotte."

She looked up at him then, meeting his eyes for the first time since he had walked into the room. The grief in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Wasn't I?" She curled in on herself, pulling away from him. "I could do nothing to stop her from taking over, from possessing me, from controlling me. I failed; I was weak, useless. Less than useless."

"You are far from useless."

"I hurt them, killed them. I nearly killed you. And if I can be so easily controlled that I would kill those most important to me."

"Charlotte, stop." Yami grabbed her by the shoulders and put a touch of authority behind his words. His intensity made her blink. "That wasn't you; it was her. In the fight, if it wasn't for you, many more would have died. You are responsible for saving thousands. I will hear nothing more about you being useless." He stroked her cheek. "Understand?"

She nodded but did not meet his eyes. Yami sighed. He pulled her into his arms again and held her until he heard a knock on the wooden door.

"Excuse me, Sir, but we are preparing to transport the prisoners to the trial." The guard's voice was timid, and he took a step back from the door as Yami glared at him.

Yami ran his hand over Charlotte's stringy hair, remembering the few times it had fallen smoothly through his fingers.

"Everything's going to be alright, okay? You need to stay strong."

Charlotte nodded her head against his chest.

"Are they feeding you enough?" He asked though he knew the answer as he ran his hands over her thin arms and back. Charlotte shrugged.

"Has Owen or... anyone else examined you? Have you told anyone?"

Charlotte took a step back and shook her head. Yami looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He looked over her as she moved through the small cell for the thin coverings they had given her for shoes. She was too skinny. True, the tunic she wore hung on her like a sack, concealing most of her curves, but even in it, he thought he should be able to see the growing roundness of her belly. He grabbed her from behind, eliciting a surprised gasp from her lips. He pressed his cheek into the back of her head and rubbed his hands over her belly.

"Yami. I'm alright." She placed her hands over his and leaned into him. Her words were meant to reassure, but her voice was hollow.

"It's not just you that I'm worried about." He whispered so only she could hear him. "I'll see about making sure you get more to eat."

"It's not fair, though. If they are all suffering, I shouldn't get special treatment."

"They aren't pregnant, Charlotte."

"Sir?" The guard called, growing more anxious the longer he waited.

"Fine," Yami growled in his direction. He squeezed Charlotte one last time.

"You need to tell them." He whispered to her before letting her go and walking out the door. The guard stepped back as he walked past, cowering slightly.

Yami didn't want to attend the trials. He was certain he should be doing other things as interim Wizard King, planning and strengthening defenses or the like. He wanted to be anywhere, to do anything which would keep him from relieving the last few weeks. He lit a cigarette as soon as he left the cell block, wishing he could go back to before everything happened to the day Charlotte had shown up on his doorstep out of the blue and told him he was going to be a father. The thought scared him then, sort of the same way facing a worthy opponent scared him-both terrifying and exhilarating. Now the exhilaration had gone and he was left with the terror. He wasn't afraid he would be a bad father though-those worries had fled the day Charlotte had been arrested. What scared him now was the thought he might not get the chance.

He walked up to the warden overseeing the prisoners.

"You aren't feeding them enough," Yami told the paunchy balding man who sat behind the warden's desk.

"We were told to keep them alive, not comfortable." The man flipped the page of the newspaper spread over the desk without looking up.

Yami gripped the edge of the desk and felt his mana expand into the zone around him. The warden looked up at him and narrowed his eyes.

"They are starving down there," Yami said through clenched teeth.

"What does it matter? They will all be dead soon enough." The man showed no remorse for those lives he held. "Those bastards killed my wife and sister. My nephew will now grow up without his mother. The lot of them can rot for all I care."

The wooden edge of the desk cracked as Yami squeezed it rather than the plump man's fat neck. He stared down the warden a moment longer, long enough for the other man to blink and look away.

"You will feed them more," Yami ordered, his voice a hard seething whisper. "You will do it or your nephew will lose more than his mother."

"Uh, yessir." The warden would not meet Yami's eyes as he folded up the newspaper and scribbled on a piece of paper regarding the new orders. Yami turned from the man and could feel him sag into his chair as he walked out the door.

He took a long drag on his cigarette, breathing in the last of it as he walked across the courtyard before he tossed the remains to the ground. He sighed as he pulled out another.

"I should have told him why," he muttered to himself as he stuck the cigarette between his lips and lit it. A deep inhale and long slow exhale later, and his muttering continued. "I should have said something about her, maybe she could be moved somewhere more comfortable, could be taken care off."

But as soon as the words passed his lips, Yami knew Charlotte would be furious if he used his position to help her when so many others needed help too. He watched from across the courtyard as the remaining prisoners were herded into a wagon. He saw Owen and Gauche enter the wagon before Charlotte. Both men helped her up. Gauche seemed more gaunt than usual and Owen, though already lanky, seemed almost skeletal. Yami's rage at their treatment only grew at the sight. He watched until all of the prisoners were aboard and the gate was shut. As the wagon drove off on a winding path through the city, Yami resigned himself to the inevitability of the trials and made his way to the courtroom as well.

"You're late," Nozel whispered as Yami took his seat next to him.

"I had something I needed to do." Yami looked over the crowd of the accused. Charlotte sat quietly. Her body was hunched and her arms were crossed over her belly.

"Owen's been, well, not cleared exactly, but placed in a sort of house arrest."

"Owen is too useful to hide away." Yami watched as the doctor was led from the stand and taken into custody. His shackles were removed and a magic device was affixed to his ankle. A guard took his elbow and escorted him from the chamber.

"Pretty much what the king said."

Yami turned his gaze to the dais where the king ruled over the proceedings. The king watched the events with an air of complete and utter boredom on his face. The intelligence and wisdom of his rulings from the trial's prior day were nowhere present in his face. Yami narrowed his eyes as he watched the king. He noticed a slight movement attract the king's attention to something just out of view. The king nodded before turning back to the trial.

"Gauche Adalai, please come forward." The bailiff's magically-enhanced voice echoed through the chamber.

Yami's head whipped around to see the tall young man step forward. He was still amazed at how thin Gauche had grown over the few weeks since the guards had taken him into custody.

Gauche stepped onto the platform where he awaited his verdict and sentencing. He stared defiantly up at the king, and Yami felt a twinge of pride coupled with the knot of fear which had settled into his gut as the second of his family faced the king's skewed sense of justice.

"Gauche Adalai, you stand accused of conspiring with a terrorist organization against the kingdom and willfully acting against the wishes of your king. How do you plead?" The king's nasally voice wove a thin, whining chord through the room.

"It doesn't matter what I say. Your investigators have already told you everything and you've already made up your mind, haven't you?"

The knot of fear in Yami's gut twisted at Gauche's defiant tone. The king's disgust at Gauche's behavior was plain to see on his face. Yami rubbed his hand over his face and pressed his palms together before resting his elbows on the railing separating him and the rest of the observers from the accused. He nestled his chin in the space where his thumbs met his hands and buried his nose between his palms. He shook his head at Gauche's actions, trying to steel himself for the worst.

The investigator on his case, a mousy woman with hair which used to be black, stepped forward. Despite her small stature, Yami could tell she was not a woman who was easily intimidated. She rattled off a list of accusations, the same list which had convicted everyone so far.

"The findings show Gauche Adalai is guilty of that which he is accused."

Motion on the dais as the king leaned back listening to something or someone drew Yami's attention once more. Who could have such unprecedented access to the king?

"Isn't it true that you have other crimes for which you were convicted, and for which you have avoided sentencing?"

"No," Yami muttered as Gauche's face blanched. A guard jabbed Gauche in the back as he turned to meet Yami's eyes.

"Answer the question." The king's weaselly voice belied his impatience.

"I, um," Gauche stuttered before another jab to the back made him spin around to confront the guard. The pair stared at each other for a long moment.

"Answer the question." The guard ordered.

"I was convicted before, yes, of minor burglary. After my parents were killed," he stressed the words which he had come to believe as true, rather than the story they had both grown ill and died. "I was forced to care for my young sister and myself alone. We had no one, and everything we did have was stolen from us. Everything except our name. I did what I had to do to protect her."

"So this sort of criminal behavior is simply in your nature." The king assumed.

"What? No. I may be selfish and focused on the one thing most important to me, but..."

The investigator cut him off.

"Is it not also true you escaped your punishment for your previous crimes?"

"The kingdom has no need for an unremorseful thief who is likely to escape his punishment. Honestly, I do not know how you were allowed to join the Magic Knights in the first place. You will be executed at dawn."

A hush fell over the room followed by an eruption of murmurs.

Yami ran his hands over his face, through his hair and down the back of his neck. He stared at his shoes, not surprised by the outcome despite the fury he felt building within him.

At a simple command, the room fell quiet once more.

"Yami Sukehiro, as the... Interim Wizard King, I expect you to carry out his sentence."

The knot in Yami's gut squeezed more tightly, and Yami felt as if he were going to throw up as he met the King's eyes.

"No." How could he? The king had no heart, for he might as well asked him to murder his brother.

"You are refusing a direct command from your king?"

"Your Grace," Yami forced the words out, feeling as if grace had abandoned the kingdom. "Since when is the Wizard King your personal executioner?"

"Since a foreigner was placed in the role."

Yami held the king's gaze for a moment. A test of loyalty, then, is it?

"It doesn't matter if you refuse or not. He will still die. And if you refuse, you can join him as a traitor to the crown."

Yami's eyes narrowed, but Gauche's voice broke the stare-down between the king and the wizard king.

"Yami." Gauche waited until he met Yami's eyes and then he nodded and hung his head in resignation.

Yami watched as Gauche was taken away. The similarity between his removal and Owen's struck him; guards led both men out, but one walked with a sense of freedom, his arms swinging by his sides, and the other in chains, dejected.

The king said something, but Yami could not make it out over the roar of anger in his ears. He felt a hand pat his shoulder in sympathy as he continued to stare at the doorway through which the prisoners filed on their way back to their cells.

"I'm sorry, Yami." A deep rich voice said behind him, but he could only stare at the emptying room.

He felt as if hours had passed by the time he finally stood. When he turned to the doorway which led to the small balcony, his family met him, standing, waiting in pregnant silence. He did not need them to speak for him to hear the question on each of their minds. Each of them asked, in some way, the same question which had haunted his mind since the ruling.

What are we going to do now?

Yami took a deep breath.

"I'm going to talk to Gauche."

"Are you going to do it, Yami?" Finral asked, breaking the silence of the squad with the question he knew they all wanted to ask.

"I don't know. Just... be ready for orders." He pushed past his squad, his family, or what was left of it.

The guards at Gauche's cell withered with a single look as he approached. Neither said a word as he entered the small room where Gauche sat on the small cot in the darkness.

The mirror mage looked up as Yami entered the room, fury filling his face.

"Gauche."

"It doesn't matter, Yami. You heard him. His mind is made up."

"But we could try to break you out. I mean, we hadn't tried before, but..."

"No. I've already escaped once. I don't think I want to press my luck."

Yami sat next to him.

"I won't do it, Gauche. I won't be his executioner."

Gauche sighed and stretched back until he leaned against the wall.

"If not you, he will find someone else. Plenty of guards looking for revenge against us."

"Revenge isn't justice. Not always." Images of Julius falling at William's-no, Patry's hand and the rage he felt then flashed through his mind. He had wanted vengeance then. Part of him still wished he could have it. He would have killed William himself, he knew, had the man survived the fight. A warrior's death had been too good for him.

"No, but perhaps this is. Maybe my death will sate the king, and he will go easier on the others, on Asta's friend, on Charlotte."

Yami squeezed his hands into fists until he could feel his short nails biting into his palms.

"Besides, I would rather you do it. I don't know. I guess it would... mean more if you did it."

Yami looked over at the younger man to see tracts of tears shimmering on his cheeks in the dim light of the cell.

"I only wish I could have seen Marie grow up. That I could at least say good-bye to her."

Yami sighed and leaned against the wall as well.

"You're resigned to this, aren't you."

"Yeah. As I said, I hope it's enough."

Yami sighed once more before he stood.

"I'm going to talk to the king. I don't know how it will turn out, but if everything he wants does happen... I swear to you, I will be the one to swing the sword."

"Thank you, Yami." Gauche smiled peacefully.

Yami nodded, though, with his closed eyes, Gauche could not see. Yami rubbed his hand over her face as he stepped out of the cell and the door closed behind him. He looked down the hall towards the cell where Charlotte was being held. He grabbed one of the guards by the shoulder and pulled him toward him. His fingers dug into the guard's shoulder and he stood over him, threateningly, his face very close to the guard. The guard tried to lean away, but could not escape.

"You will make sure that he had a decent meal tonight. And you will also ensure Charlotte is fed properly, three times a day, or you will have me to deal with."

The guard nodded his head rapidly, fearfully before Yami released him and he scurried away to the kitchen with the new orders. Yami walked the few steps to Charlotte's door. She was curled up on the narrow cot as best she could, her arms pillowing her head. Yami wanted to open the door, to step through, to hold her tight, but too much work needed to be done. Still, he wanted to touch her, to tell her everything was going to be alright, that he would do everything he could to protect her.

And, if he was honest with himself, he wanted her to do the same. He wanted her to wrap her arms around him, to brush her fingers through his hair, to tell him everything was alright, that it would get better. He wanted to cry on her shoulder, safe with her. She wouldn't judge, he guessed, or if she did, she wouldn't say anything about it.

But too many question marks remained. Too many things were still to be decided. And so his grief would have to wait some more, even as he felt it might consume him.

He turned from the cell door, and walked out of the jail, seeking whatever small boon he could for Gauche.

Night had fallen by the time Yami called Finral into the Wizard King's office. A pile of cigarette butts sat on the desk where Yami leaned over something, scratching his head. His discussion with the king had not gone well, but he had come away with a few concessions. The man who had greeted him earlier, who he had noticed before, whispering to the king, had been there once more. The king did not seem to move without direct instructions from him. Yami was sure the King would have deferred to the man had he been able to, perhaps he would have abdicated even, had he been able, had he not been needed to be the face of the monarchy.

Still, he planned to make the most of what he had convinced the king to accept.

First, the... execution had been postponed at least a few hours. No longer would he have to kill his friend and brother-at-arms at dawn, but rather noon would bring Gauche's downfall.

Finral knocked on the door before peeking in.

"You asked for me? Please don't tell me you need me to send you to the bathroom."

"No. I've got a mission for you."

"Is it... dangerous?"

"No. Or not yet." Yami had no way of knowing how dangerous his plan might become. He never felt he was any good with plans.

"Hopefully that 'not yet' means the dangerous part might not hit me until I'm on my death bed anyway..." Finral muttered.

"I need you to go to these two locations." He slipped a piece of paper which had been torn from a notebook across the desk to Finral. "You have the King's Special Dispensation." He slid another, larger, more formal document across the table. "Bring Luck and Marie."

Yami did not have to look up from what he was doing to know Finral was trying to piece everything together. He could hear the rustle of paper as Finral looked at the locations and determined if he could get there directly or not. The sound of Yami's pen against the rough surface of the paper as he signed a document echoed through the room.

"Yes, Sir." The paper rustled once more and Yami looked up at Finral, wondering if the younger man had ever addressed him so formally. Yami slid one last piece of paper across the desk to Finral. He watched as the spatial mage's eyes widened. Yami steepled his fingers and laid them over his lips. Their eyes met and Finral nodded before turning to the door.

Yami propped his elbows on the desktop and rubbed his face with his hands. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the insistent tug of sleep. He needed sleep. He wanted to sleep. But instead, he lit another cigarette and turned his bleary eyes back to the plan he was hatching.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun had no right to be shining so brightly. Yami scowled at the offending light as he dragged himself to a sitting position on the edge of his bed. He ran his hands through his hair before reaching for a cigarette. He forced himself to stand as his body yearned for a few minutes more. The night had run long as he tried to prepare for one scenario after another after another. He never got far with any of them.

Inhaling deeply on the cigarette, he prayed what little he had set into motion would work out the way he had planned.

He wished, not for the first time, Julius had survived to handle the fallout. The political games had always been more of his speed.

Yami felt he was drowning, that he could barely keep his head above the water.

The sun, bleeding golden rays of light into the sky, reminded him of the task at hand. No time for anything else. A visit to Charlotte, to have a shoulder to support him would have to wait.

He dressed quickly-donning the black cloak of his squad rather than the finery of his new role. The black fit his mood, fit the task at hand. The black put his true loyalties on display. His actions today may appease the king's blood lust, or may not, but Yami would fulfill them on his own accord, of his own volition. He would not be the king's lackey.

He fastened his sword at his waist and drew the blade checking for chips and wear, testing the sharpness. Should he be called to use it, he needed to be prepared. Sheathing the weapon, he walked out the door, still scowling at the sun's brightness.

A crowd was gathered in the colosseum when he arrived. The excitement in the air turned his stomach. His squad, his family had gathered on the colosseum floor, a tight knot of black robes. Each member looked at him expectantly. Finral placed his hand on a young girl's shoulder. Yami immediately recognized the girl as Gauche's sister from all the times he had been forced to look at her picture. The girl looked up at Finral and asked him something Yami could not make out.

Asta walked forward, calling to him.

"We should probably be in on the plan," Asta whispered, leaning into Yami so his voice would not carry.

"Finral knows the plan. Follow his lead."

"But that's..." Asta looked around. "I mean the plan to save Gauche."

Yami did not have the opportunity to speak as the king chose to enter the colosseum to the sound of fanfare echoing off the stone walls. Yami looked up as the king entered his viewing box and waved to his gathered subjects. His eyes narrowed as he spotted the tall thin man with dark hair who had been feeding the king a web of lies.

Gauche entered from a gate beneath the king's box, prodded forward by a pair of guards. Yami signaled for Asta to return to the squad as he walked forward toward a hastily constructed wooden platform. As Gauche ascended the stairs from the back, Yami met him from the other side.

"Gauche Adali, you stand accused of treason against the crown." The king's voice echoed against the stone walls, aided by magical enhancements. "How do you plead?"

Gauche met Yami's eyes. He nodded slowly. The red puffiness around them told Yami everything he needed to know, and the self-assured, cocky grin on his lips filled in any possible blanks.

Gauche turned to the King.

"We both know damn well that your mind is already made up and nothing I can say will change it."

Murmurs of disapproval echoed around the colosseum. Yami could see the frown on the King's face.

"Very well." The King cleared his throat. "As a small boon of my merciful nature, I have allowed your sister to visit you one last time. You may speak with her."

Gauche turned to where the Black Bulls had gathered, eyes wide with a slurry of emotions-fear, relief, sadness, joy. Marie stood there among them, surrounded by the family he had for so long refused to claim. He did not even mind when he saw Finral's hand on her shoulder. She had been crying, he could tell even from a distance. She was thinner than she should be and dressed in rags unsuited to her goddess-like status in his mind.

He pushed past Yami to the edge of the platform as Marie broke free from Finral's grip. She met him as he crouched down the best he could with his hands bound behind him.

"Brother! I miss you! Why are we here? What's going to happen?"

Gauche closed his eyes and leaned toward her. He pressed a soft kiss into her forehead.

"I love you, Marie. Your safety and well-being have been my reason for living for so long."

"And you can still protect me, Big Brother."

Gauche shook his head.

"I have to face the consequences of my actions."

"But you didn't do anything wrong!"

"Didn't I? Even before the incident, before the elves took over, I was a seasoned criminal. Everything I did was to protect you, to provide for you, but one can only run for so long, Marie. Now is the time for me to stop running. Now I

need to take responsibility for what I've done."

"But, Brother...!" Marie reached out for him as the guards pulled him away, back toward the center of the platform.

"I love you, Marie. Everything I do has always been for you."

One of the guards struck Gauche across the face. The mirror mage narrowed his eyes as he spat at the guard. Yami walked over and placed a hand on Gauche's shoulder and stared the guard down until the ruckus stopped. He leaned toward Gauche.

"It's not too late. Finral can still..."

"No. You and I both know anything else would only endanger everyone we care about."

Their eyes met for a moment before Yami nodded imperceptibly and stepped back a bit. Gauche was forced to kneel in the center of the platform. He raised his eyes to the sky ahead for a moment before settling his gaze on his sister. Finral held her close to him and she clung to his jacket, but she did not hide her face. He smiled at her bravery.

Everything moved in slow motion as he watched and prepared. Gauche kneeling and the smile creeping on his face-the look of defiant victory. His blade sung as he drew it from the scabbard he wore. Never had it quite sounded so clear and piercing. His heart, hammering drum-like in his chest, its loud thudding drowning out even the sound of his steady calming breathing. The hilt of the blade felt slick in his hands as his palms sweat. He shifted his weight, gripping the sword with both hands and pulled the blade around and above his head. He held his position for a moment, his eyes darting to the squad who stood watching with expressions that ran the gamut of anger to disbelief. Only Finral, whose eyes found him, wore a look of calm expectation. Yami saw him shift out the corner of his eye as he turned back to Gauche kneeling before him.

And the blade fell in a silver flash. He barely felt the resistance of flesh and bone as it met Gauche's neck.

He did hear the thud as his head hit the platform.

He did see the squirt of blood as the mirror mage's heart pumped its last.

Gauche looked up at him, at them all, eyes opened, defiant, with a smirk on his lips.

Gasps from the crowd and a shout of alarm broke the spell of the moment. Motion on the ground drew Yami's eyes. A flash of light, a flash of magic startled everyone around.

But not Yami.

Where the Black Bulls had stood was nothing but space.

Yami looked back on the face of the sacrifice he had taken. The sacrifice which had walked willingly to the slaughter. The sacrifice he knew would always be on his conscience.

Yami knelt, the pooling blood soaking the leather of his chaps. His fingers brushed the quickly cooling skin of the man he had once considered family as he closed his one good eye forever.

"She's safe," Yami muttered, unheard by the crowd still distressed by the disappearance of an entire Magic Knight squad.

"Where did they go?" The King's nasally whine cut through the murmurs of confusion from the audience. "How could they disappear like that?" Yami looked up at the monarch. The King looked back at the tall dark-haired man who stood behind him and waved his arms in confused frustration. "You promised me nothing like this could happen!"

The man simply looked at Yami, his lips pressed into a thin line. Yami held his steely gaze for a moment before tossing his blade to the ground and turning away. He hopped from the platform and landed heavily on the ground below. A small smirk twisted his lips as Yami pulled a cigarette from his pouch. The smirk turned to a self-satisfied smile as he passed over the ground where his family had stood together and stood by Gauche's side one last time. He lit the cigarette and took a long drag as he walked across the open space to the door and stepped out into the city beyond.

He needed a drink.

"So," Jack slipped into the seat next to him. "Where are they?"

"Where are who?" Yami lifted his cup and took a shallow sip. He usually enjoyed the drink, but today it tasted like ash in his mouth.

"Don't play dumb with me, Yami. Where are they?" Jack waved over the bartender.

Yami glanced around the room, which had entirely too many eyes and ears for his taste. He wished he had chosen to retire to his chambers instead of the bar to which his feet had carried him as his consciousness seemed to shut down.

"I don't know. Really." The King, or rather his puppetmaster, could have agents anywhere lying in wait for him to slip.

"But you knew they were going to bolt, didn't you?"

Yami took another slow sip before he placed the glass down. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"If you're asking me if I had any hand in their decision or plan, the answer is no. Might I have made a suggestion or two? Might I have arranged for the child to be with them? Perhaps."

"You know, for someone as dense as you are sometimes, you can be pretty savvy." Jack took the glass placed before him on the bar and took a drink.

Yami grunted.

"Maybe. But I'm not smart enough." Yami swirled the clear brown liquid in his glass.

"Charlotte's trial is tomorrow?"

Yami took another sip.

"Yep."

"You ready for it?"

Yami shook his head.

"Nope."

"I can't imagine the King letting her off easy, Yami. Compared to escaping a prison sentence for simple theft, wiping out an entire Magic Knight squad seem like it would be a much more serious conviction." Jack brought the glass to his lips. He said nothing else, but Yami could hear the rest of the thought carried through on the silence which followed. The weight of the silence pressed down on him, threatening to crush him beneath the weight of the unspoken and unasked.

"I can't kill her, Jack. I won't be her executioner. We've already lost too many; I've lost too many." Yami whispered as he stared into the swirling liquid in his glass.

"When did you two get together?"

He asked the question as if their relationship had been blatantly obvious, despite all of their efforts to hide their feelings.

"Maybe get together isn't the right thing to ask... When did you two first get over yourselves and finally fuck?"

Yami wondered if he should protest for Charlotte's sake, but another part wanted to brag just a little bit, while another part wondered what he was still doing at the bar when he could see her, maybe for the last time.

"It was a few months ago." Yami took another sip of his drink, satisfied with his decision to stay as neutral on the matter, or at least as neutral as he could. "How did you know?"

"You aren't the only other captain I spend time with, ya know. And both of you have been, I don't know, acting weird lately. Everyone knew something was up."

Yami took a sip and placed his glass back on the table. He rotated it, watching the ice swirl within it.

"Charlotte won't be too happy to hear that. She was so insistent we keep all of it a secret."

"Yeah, well, you two are also terrible liars."

"Hey, I take offense at that."

Jack chuckled.

"You're a better liar when you never open your mouth, Meathead."

Yami could see what Jack was trying to do, but he could not bring himself to respond. He did not have the energy to banter. He sighed instead and took another drink. Jack lifted his glass to his lips as well and they continued drinking in silence.

Yami stumbled down the stairs to the cells where the few remaining prisoners were held. He glared at the soldier who tried stopping him and the younger man wilted. He scraped his fingers against the cold stone walls as he walked down the corridor. The thudding sound as they struck the rungs of the barred doors sent a shockwave of pain up his arm.

He reached the cell where Gauche had been held and stopped. He gripped the cold metal bars of the door until his knuckles turned white. He pressed his forehead into the bars as if he could force himself to pass through them by the pressure. Closing his eyes, he could see Gauche's face in profile, moonlight highlighting the peaceful resignation he had worn during the last time they had spoken in the small damp cell.

Yami sighed and stepped back. He continued down the hall until he reached her door.

She shimmered silver in the light of the moon now passing through the window. She had turned her face toward its light and Yami stood watching her for a long moment.

His conviction had been strong before, but now as he watched her, his heart grew resolute.

She turned toward the door as if she knew he had come. A tiny sad smile graced her lips.

He leaned heavily against her door feeling the full effects of the afternoon he had spent drinking with Jack.

"Hey, Beautiful."

"I don't feel very beautiful right now." She turned her attention to her hands as they rested in her lap.

"You're always beautiful to me."

She looked every bit a goddess-an impoverished, malnourished, and unattended goddess, but a goddess nonetheless.

Charlotte rolled her eyes before walking to the door which separated them. She laid her hand over his as he gripped the metal bars separating them.

"I heard what happened." She reached through and brushed his cheek with her long, bony fingers.

"Are they feeding you better?" He held her hand against his face, desperate for her touch. He closed his eyes as a barrier against the thoughts and feelings building within him.

"Yami..." An unspoken worry filled her voice.

She should worry about herself, about tomorrow, he thought.

"I wish I could hold you." He reached through the bars and brushed her stringy, oily hair.

"So do I." She leaned into his touch and pressed her forehead against the bars separating. Yami slipped his hand around the back of her neck as if he might try pulling her headfirst through the bars. Instead, he ran his fingers through her hair as he also rested his forehead against the cold metal bars.

Yami's head roared as he opened his eyes and immediately regretted the action. He lay, fully dressed, atop the blankets in his quarters at the headquarters of the magic knights. He couldn't remember a time he had felt as bad after a night at the bar, but then, he also couldn't quite remember last night either. He sat up slowly, laboriously, as he fought the swimming in his head and every noise was amplified in his ears. He closed his eyes and reached for a cigarette. He inhaled slowly and exhaled even slower. He looked at the glowing red tip and the embers turned to blood in his mind. He shook the image from his thoughts and rubbed his hand over his face. He stood and stumbled slightly in the process. He shoved the cigarette between his lips as he found his footing and shuffled to the bathroom.

While he missed the camaraderie of the home he had shared with the Bulls, the private bathroom was quite an upgrade.

He splashed water on his face and when he looked in the mirror, for a flash Gauche's lifeless eyes stared back at him. He blinked and his face looked out from the mirror once more.

Yami sighed, fogging the silvered surface with a cloud of smoke.

A bell chimed in the other room announcing a visitor.

"Shit."

The door to the bedroom creaked open and Yami slammed the bathroom door closed with enough force to rattle the glass pitcher on the table.

"Yami, the trial will be starting soon."

"I'm taking a dump, Marx."

He could imagine the look of disgust on the other man's face. While they had served together in the same squad, Yami had always felt Marx had looked at him with a measure of disdain.

"No need to be graphic. I was just reminding you. Shall I have your robes prepared?"

Yami rolled his eyes as he took a seat on the toilet. He hated the finery associated with the Wizard King position.

"No, I... I'll take care of it, now please let me shit in peace."

Footsteps followed by silence and Yami closed his eyes again, only to be haunted by the face of the brother whose life he had taken.

"I can't do this," he muttered.

"You're late." Nozel's voice was cool and accusatory. Yami glared at him.

"Again," Fuegoleon added.

Yami ignored him and took a seat.

Charlotte was already on the platform. Her wrists had been shackled before her. The plain white chemise was dingy and smeared with dirt from the prison cell. Her blond hair hung in greasy clumps on either side of her face. She looked a far cry from the confident warrior they all knew. She looked broken.

Until the king addressed her from the bench. Then she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. The dirty veneer of her time in prison seemed to fall away, exposing her confident, capable self. The Charlotte he had fallen for could never be broken, especially not by a man.

"Lady Charlotte Roselei, Former Captain of the Blue Rose Knights Brigade, do you know of what you stand accused?"

Charlotte's gaze drifted to the floor before her and a flicker of pain crossed her face.

"Do you, Lady Roselei? Answer the question."

He could see the deep breath she took even from a distance.

"I do." She said after a long moment.

"Will the court restate the crime of which Lady Roselei is accused?" The tall man with the king made the request and Yami's eyes narrowed. Something about the man did not sit right with him. The tall man glared down at a clerk shuffling papers. "Well?"

"Um, yes, here it is." The clerk cleared her throat before she read from the paper in her hands. "Lady Charlotte Roselei stands accused of the destruction of the Blue Rose Knights headquarters and the deaths of every member of the brigade within the structure at the time. Furthermore, Lady Roselei is charged with treason and a willful attempt against the life of the crown."

A hush fell over the room as the gathered crowd awaited the next words from the king.

"Lady Roselei, until recent events, you have been a model citizen and superb knight and protector of the kingdom. However, the accusations against you are severe. Hundreds were slaughtered in your attack against your squad-women and men who relied on you for leadership. Dozens more were killed or injured in the attack on the capital-collateral damage in your fight against those who chose to protect the kingdom from you and your traitorous allies."

Yami gripped the railing so hard he felt the wood compress. He didn't care if he broke it or not. The king was spouting half-truths, ignoring the fact that none of the accused had any choice in their actions, as he had since the farces he called trials began.

"How do you plead?"

"I did none of the things of which I have been accused, Your Grace."

"Do you not remember them?"

"I do, Your Grace."

"Was it not your body that performed these actions?"

"Yes, Your Grace, but my spirit was... suppressed and my body was not my own at the time."

"So you're just weak-willed, is that what you are saying?"

Yami watched as Charlotte opened her mouth to argue and closed it again. He noted the clenched fists at her side.

"Careful, Charlotte." He muttered as he leaned on the railing, his entire body tense. Jack put a hand on his shoulder and pushed hard, forcing him back into the seat he had not realized he had left.

"If you will not answer, we have no choice but to assume your guilt in this matter. You will be executed at dawn for murder, treason, and crimes against the crown."

Murmurs of excitement or concern flooded the room.

Yami shot to his feet, his body tense and ready to leap to her side, or to call out an objection, to... tell... everyone."

"I'm pregnant, Your Grace." Charlotte's voice cut through the din like a whip, silencing all around her. She looked up at the dais and the surprised expressions on the face of the king and his advisors.

Yami could feel the eyes of his comrades on him, but he would not, could not take his eyes off of her.

"Please, Your Grace. Please spare my child. I am not asking for clemency, only that I will be allowed to bring this life into the world."

The king looked at the tall man standing behind him, the man Yami had figured was truly running the show. The younger man spoke for once as he approached the end of the dais.

"Is this true?" Yami could see the uncertainty in his face, even from the distance as he summoned his grimoire and with it a spell. Aides of the court scurried around and shuffled papers as they searched for confirmation.

Charlotte nodded her head and squeezed her eyes shut from the onslaught of whispered discussion which had erupted all around them.

"Yami?" Jack's voice made his blood run cold. "Is she?"

The spell gripped Charlotte in tendrils of light and settled her on one side of a pair of scales. A light shone blindingly on the other side.

"The light of truth will judge your honesty." The young man said calmly, but Yami had the feeling the judgment would be anything but fair.

The scales sat perfectly balanced despite the snarl on the man's face as he seemed to fight to exert his will over the truth. As Charlotte hovered in the scale built of mana, Owen spoke up from where he had been held during the proceedings.

"Your Grace, she speaks the truth. I felt the child's mana within her as we worked together to save the life of Yami Sukehiro."

"A life she had sought to claim initially!" The man spat, his anger getting the better of him as he continued his fight to influence the balance. Yami shot to his feet. If they were to bring him into the discussion, he would damn well be in the middle of the conversation.

"Even your scales know it to be true!" Owen spat back.

"Damnatio. Please." The king motioned to his nephew, asking the younger man to take a seat. The scales vanished and Charlotte fell a short distance to the platform on which she had stood. Yami leaped over the railing which had surrounded the Captains' seating and landed on the tamped earth flooring with a dull thud that rattled his joints. Yami raced across the small field to where Charlotte lay. Owen met him there.

"Of all the irresponsible, boneheaded things a Kira could do," the physician muttered as he looked over the prone woman.

"Is she alright?" Yami asked, panic flooding his voice. "Are you alright?" He lifted her head and cradled her against him.

"I'm fine, Yami."

"Since the scales of truth corroborates your story, Physician, I will believe you. Though I will have my personal team examine the prisoner. Strange she chose not to mention her condition until now." The king droned, but Yami barely heard him.

"The sentence will be delayed until verification of the claims of pregnancy. If the claim proves false, the accused will be executed immediately."

Charlotte gasped and looked up at Yami. Terror filled her eyes though her face was stoic.

Yami turned from her to the platform towering above them. He glared at the king. He wanted to leap to the dais and slice through him with his blade. He took one hand from Charlotte and reached for the hilt of his sword. His hand met air and he looked down to see nothing where his sword should have been. Cold dread washed through him as he recalled the reason why the blade was missing.

"I will be present during this personal examination, Your Grace." The last two words came through gritted teeth, as Yami's hand clenched into a fist.

"As will I," Owen stood next to them. Yami glanced at the old doctor and saw the same worry in his eyes.

"We do not need any observers. The royal physician will conduct the examination fairly."

"I insist." Yami's voice was a growl of rage. His fear the examination would, in fact, not be fair grew with every insistence that it would.

"If you can heal, you can kill," Owen whispered the thought which had made Yami's blood run cold.

The king looked to the younger man standing near him, as if asking what he should do, but the stone-wall faced Damnatio did not indicate any sort of plan as he stared down at the accused and her defenders.

The king sighed.

"Very well. Your presence will be tolerated during the examination. But the ruling stands. Should she be lying, she will be executed immediately."

Yami felt his shoulders relax slightly and his fist loosen just a bit.

"By your hand, Wizard King," Damnatio added.

Any sense of victory he had allowed himself to feel fled as ice filled his veins once more. Yami met the cold, calculating eyes on the dais. The man staring back at him had spent a lifetime playing political games. Yami could tell the man was a master manipulator, and he knew he was being manipulated.

He could see the web closing around him, around them all, but he could not see a way to escape it.

Guards grabbed Charlotte's arms and escorted her from the platform.

"Owen, keep on them. Make sure they don't try to cut us out of the loop."

"The royal physician and I go way back. We don't always see eye to eye, but I will do what I can to make sure he is on our side."

Yami nodded before storming off of the platform and out of the room. He caught Jack's eye as he passed where the rest of the magic knight leaders sat. He needed a smoke. He needed a drink. He needed to know if his "kids" were alright.

But most importantly, he needed to stop whatever the hell was going on.


End file.
